Pleasantly Surprised
by Contrary To Popular Belief
Summary: He had given her a job, a life, and told her his darkest secret. Maybe she should be content with that. But oh, she had such a huge crush on him . . . [AyaMine]
1. Drawings

**Chapter One: Drawings**

The breeze was faintly cool as it blew across the path, ruffling the hair of Mine Kuramae. She clutched a pale pink handbag in one hand, and a folder of loose paper in the other. As she wove through the puddles on the ground, she didn't see the figure hurrying in the opposite direction until it was too late.

_Whump!_

'Oh, I'm so sorry!' she gasped, sitting flat on her rear on the wet pavement. Then, a hand took hers and pulled her up.

'My dear girl,' said a rather loud voice, 'I should be sorry for knocking over such a good-looking young woman as yourself!'

Mine coloured slightly as she looked up. 'Oh, no, really, I should have been looking . . .' she murmured, Then she saw the man she had bumped into for the first time.

The first thing she noticed was his extraordinary hair. It was silver in colour, straight and swishy, and reached nearly halfway down his back. He wore an extremely long decorative coat that matched his hair colour, and he was carrying a large pink bag.

She must have been staring, because a knowing smile came onto the man's face. 'Oh, it's alright to stare, my dear. I _am_ quite out of the ordinary when it comes to looks, you know.'

Her mouth dropped open, and she started to laugh, then clapped a hand over her mouth. 'I'm—I'm sorry . . .' she stammered. 'I—I'll go now, I think.'

She straightened up, and attempted to brush off her skirt. But as she did so, her folder opened up and several pieces of paper floated out. Mine squealed and grabbed at them, and succeeded in dropping the entire folder and also her handbag.

But she hadn't been counting on the man with silver hair. He deftly caught the flying papers before they could touch the ground. He flipped them over and glanced at the drawings.

Mine blushed furiously. _He's looking at all my embarrassing designs! _'Oh, please don't—

He held her off with one hand, while studying her designs with wide eyes. Then he looked up, and she noticed that his eyes were an impressive shade of gold. 'My dear,' he said, with a note of respect in his voice (but still loudly), 'these are magnificent! Are they yours?'

She nodded wordlessly, not quite knowing how to respond. People were starting to stare at this point.

'Why, you shouldn't be embarrassed, then!' This coming from a man who had probably never been embarrassed in his life. 'You have the gift, young lady!'

Mine's mouth dropped open . . . again. 'Um, I don't—I should probably go . . .'

'Let me help you.' The stranger picked up her folder and delicately placed the loose papers inside it. He handed it to her with a bow, then picked up the bag and placed it in her hands, with another bow.

'Th-thanks,' she stammered. He bowed yet again. 'It was a pleasure to meet you, Miss . . . ?'

'Kuramae,' she supplied. 'Kuramae Mine.'

'A pleasure to meet you, Miss Mine!' he trilled, his face lighting up with a brilliant smile. 'My name is Sohma Ayame. I take it you are interested in designing clothing?'

'Uh, yeah.' She saw no point in lying to him.

He pulled something out of his voluminous sleeve. 'I run a small clothing shop near here—here's my business card. If you would like to drop by sometime, I would be enchanted! I'm sure you would like to see it. You'll be pleasantly surprised!'

Had it been anyone else, she wouldn't have thought of accepting. But this Ayame seemed like an innocent enough person. Mine shrugged. 'I might come sometime.'

He pressed the card into her hand. 'I will be delighted to see you, miss Mine.'

And then, he swept off, literally sweeping his coat behind him and humming loudly. She stared after him, wondering what sort of person she had just talked with.

But somehow, she knew she would be seeing him again later . . .

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**So, this is my first story for Fruits Basket, and I'd really like to know what you think. Please give feedback, not flames! **

**Fruits Basket belongs to Natsuki Takaya. **


	2. The Intelligent Look

**First of all . . . UWAH I'M SO SORRY FOR ABANDONING YOU GUYS AND I'M SORRY AND I WON'T DO IT AGAIN! PLEASE EXCUSE MY INCOMPETENCE. It took a long, long time, a fair amount of good music, and lots of romance fics to induce me to write again. :3 I'm in an AyaMine mood right now, so enjoy.**

**Please review and forgive me. ^_^'**

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_All I know is we said, "Hello."  
And your eyes look like coming home  
All I know is a simple name  
Everything has changed  
All I know is you held the door  
You'll be mine and I'll be yours  
All I know since yesterday is everything has changed . . ._

_'Everything Has Changed' – Taylor Swift ft. Ed Sheeran_

**Chapter Two: The Intelligent Look**

A lot had happened since that rainy day. Mine had gone out one morning dressed in her nicest outfit, and found Sohma Ayame's shop, after about an hour of searching—she was too shy to ask for directions.

Once there, she had had no more difficulties. Ayame had met her at the entrance (had he been waiting for her? Why would he do that?) and swirled her inside. His shop turned out to contain mostly costumes that Mine could only imagine seeing in certain magazines. Still, she could not find fault with any of it. She had dreamed of selling cute outfits like that ever since she first picked up a pencil and started drawing her own little dresses.

She had talked at length with Ayame about designing, clothes, magazines, and other related topics. He was both a good listener and a good talker. What made her happiest, though, was that he loved to design and make clothes, just like her. However, the difference was that he was running a successful business, doing what he loved, and she was muddling along by herself, not studying because she didn't have enough money, and currently without a steady job.

The latter problem had been solved, however, because after she stood, shyly announcing that she needed to go home, Ayame had asked her a question she had never thought anyone would ask her.

'Mine, my dear, would you consider working here?'

'What?' Mine stared at him through her round glasses, startled out of an intelligent response. She had told him that she was unemployed, but she had never expected him to say something like this.

'Would you consider working with me?' he asked again, taking her hand. 'From what I hear, you could be a great help. Besides, the ability to work at something you love is one of the greatest things in the world!'

'Um . . . of course . . . I might . . .'

'Excellent! How do you feel about coming tomorrow, just for a day, to try it out?'

She had accepted, and the next morning, she stood in front of her mirror, in her tiny apartment, wondering if she looked okay. The very thought of going out underdressed gave her cold shivers.

All she could see was a petite girl with thick brown hair that came to her shoulder blades, and absolutely refused to lie down properly. Brown eyes that rested behind her large round glasses, and a mouth that was too big to be really pretty.

Frowning, Mine combed out her hair with her fingers. There was no way she was beautiful. Ayame was beautiful, with his long silver hair and shining golden eyes. Mine was not.

Her attention was caught by a pair of hair ties sitting on her desk. Maybe . . .

Her fingers worked swiftly, forming her hair into two small braids. She tied them up neatly, and surveyed her work in the mirror.

There. Much cuter than before.

Mine set out, somehow feeling much more confident. She was half-afraid of losing her way again, but managed to find her way to the shop without much trouble.

Ayame was at the door (was he waiting for her _again_?) and when he saw her, his eyes lit up.

'Mine!' he cried, holding out his hands. 'I knew you would come!'

She blushed. 'Hi. . .'

'Well, let's get started!' He practically whirled her inside. She stood at the door, not quite sure what to do. Without warning, Ayame tossed a bundle of fabric into her arms.

'Eh?' When she looked at the bundle, it turned out to be several brightly-coloured dresses.

'Well, what are you waiting for?' Ayame's face was lit up with expectancy. 'Put one on!'

'What? You mean I can wear one?'

'Of course! May I recommend this lovely dark blue—

'I'm sorry, but I could never pay—' Mine broke off at the realization that she had interrupted him. However, Ayame did not seem bothered in the least.

'Why, you don't have to pay for it, my dear!' He snatched up the dress in question and held it against her shoulders. 'Think of it as your uniform for work.'

'Really?'

'Certainly!' Now he bundled the garment into her arms. 'Why don't you try it on now?'

'Okay.' Mine sidled into the back room which he pointed out to her and held up the dress in front of the full-length mirror. It turned out to be a ruffly maid's uniform. After a few failed attempts, she managed to work her way into it. Smoothing out the skirt, she looked in the mirror.

'Are you finished?' The muffled voice of Ayame came through the door.

'Yes.' she replied, opening the door. Her image was perfect, except for those stupid glasses.

Ayame looked at her with wide eyes. 'Picture-perfect, my dear, picture-perfect!'

'Thanks,' Mine looked self-consciously down at herself. 'I could wear contacts, maybe . . .'

'Oh no, that's fine! Glasses are quite popular, you know. The intelligent look never gets old!'

She smiled faintly. Well, that made a change from 'nerd' and 'four-eyes'. 'Thankyou, Sohma-san.'

'It's nothing,' he said magnanimously. 'But, if we're going to work together, you must call me Ayame.'

'Okay, Ayame-san.' Old habits die hard.

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**Fruits Basket belongs to Natsuki Takaya. Please review!**


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